The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) has submitted testimony to the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee asking for an increase in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services. According to NSF, its representatives asked the committee to consider budget increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to provide support to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR), and the US Surgeon General for research and education initiatives related to sleep.
Among its recommendations are a request to provide a 5% increase for fiscal year 2007 to the NIH and a proportional increase of 5% to the individual institutes and centers, specifically, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Also included was a call to provide $6.321 billion for 2007 to the CDC, the same amount Congress provided to the agency in 2005.
The NSF request faces an uphill battle as health services spending already took a big cut in last year’s federal budget, the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act, and spending cuts for health care on top of those made last year are a likely outcome of the 2007 budget as well. While House and Senate actions so far indicate that the cuts will not be as large as those advocated by the White House, there may be little money left for spending increases in medical research next year.